Monday, October 26, 2015

I was surfing around on Wikipedia the other day and I don't recall how I ended up on the page but I ended up on the list of PWI Matches of the Year. As I'm looking at the list there are several matches I recall watching and I agree with the listings. However one jumped out at me at being on the WWE Network.

One of my favorite sections is the Old School section but they have added very little to it since the launch of the Network. I love watching the old house shows from Madison Square Garden and other places, including the 70's. Honestly I would love them to post some matches from the 60's if they had any.

The oldest card on Network is from 1975, which coincidentally features the PWI 1975 Match of the year!

This was the
classic silver rope ring that had the two hard cameras, one at ring level and
the other angled down from a section or two up from the other hard camera.I really like this second camera view.

The seconds clear the ring and the referee checks both men, Arion first, then while
checking Bruno Arion pearl harbors Bruno with a right hand then delivers a
series of kicks and stomps.The referee
backs Arion up and calls for the bell.

Bruno
unloads on Arion with several blows then sends him into the ropes for a knee to
the gut.A few more strikes then a body
slam and a two count for Sammartino.Bruno backs Arion into the corner with some shoulder blocks to the
mid-section before Bruno applies a bear hug.

Arion breaks
the hold with an ear ringer.Both men
exchange blows from their knees then Arion takes control whipping Bruno into
the turnbuckle and falling to the mat.Arion delivers a series of kicks to the back and stomach.

Bruno gets
to his feet and crowd comes alive, Arion continues to work Bruno over with blows
to the lower back and mid-section.Arion
with a European uppercut good for a two count.Bruno takes over with a series of punches and kicks.Bruno gets riled up and the crowd comes alive
again.Brunoknocks Arion out of the ring to the
floor.

Arion slowly
gets back in the ring and takes over on offence knocking Sammartino to the
floor and then blatantly kicks Sammartino in the junk.The referee allows this.Some more kicks from Arion then a body slam
for a two count.The crowd is chanting
Bruno with vigorous passion.

Bruno
reverses an atomic knee drop attempt with a side headlock and punches to the
head.A series of knees to Arion’s
back.One knocks Arion over the top rope
onto the apron, Bruno kicks him to the floor.Bruno gets on the ring apron and kicks Arion into the ringside
barricade, Arion takes a swing at fan.

Back in the
ring Arion the kind of lock up with Bruno getting a side choke on Arion, then
some more punches and kicks.The crowd
loves it when Bruno kicks Arion in the head while he is down so he keeps doing
it.

Bruno locks
in a rear chin lock, Vinnie calls it a Boston crab something very similar to
it.We get a rope break so Bruno stands
on Arion’s head bouncing up and down while holding the ropes.The exchange blows in the standing
position.Sammartino used the corner to
kick Arion with both feet.

Arion knocks
Bruno to the canvas and starts a series of various kicks and then punches
followed by more kicks.Arion goes for
an abdominal stretch, Bruno reverses into a nice judo throw, followed by a hip
toss and a body slam for a two count.

Bruno grabs
a headlock, then is sent into the ropes eating a kick to the midsection.Arion throws Bruno into the ropes who comes
off with a kick of his own.Another
bodyslam by Bruno, Arion gets his foot on the ropes but the referee doesn’t see
it.

Arion protests
showing the referee what happened, but he doesn’t care.Arion protest to Bruno, but he doesn’t care
either.

The match
wasn’t bad, but Match of the Year, seems unlikely.

I don't normally do match reviews like this with the blow by blow, but as we are talking about a Match of the Year I felt it necessary.

Thanks for reading, please feel free to leave a comment, follow me on Twitter or like my blog's Facebook page.

Later Readers!

Other matches on this show

WWWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - March 17, 1975Televised on HBO - featured Vince McMahon on commentary:
Johnny Rodz pinned Bill White at 11:31 with a stomp from the middle rope after White failed a dropkick attempt
Mike Paidousis pinned Jack Evans at 5:43 with a kneedrop after Evans ran into the ropes when Paidousis moved out of the way
Manuel Soto & Pete Sanchez defeated Joe Nova & Hans Schroeder at 22:05 in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match
Chief Jay Strongbow pinned Butcher Vachon at 9:10 with a Thesz Press
WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino (w/ Arnold Skaaland) pinned Spiros
Arion at 14:51 in a Texas Death match with a powerslam even though
Arion's foot was on the bottom rope during the cover; prior to the bout,
Freddie Blassie escorted Arion to the ring before returning to the
dressing room
Victor Rivera defeated Killer Kowalski via disqualification at 15:58
after Kowalski began biting at Rivera's head; prior to the bout, the
Grand Wizard escorted Kowalski to the ring before returning to the
dressing roomAll American Wrestling - 5/6/84: Ivan Putski defeated the Wolfman via submission at 6:45 with a bearhug (Putski's MSG debut)
Dean Ho & Tony Garea fought WWWF Tag Team Champions Johnny &
Jimmy Valiant to a draw in a Best 2 out of 3 falls non-title match;
fall #1: Garea pinned Johnny at 1:49 after throwing him off the top
rope; fall #2: Johnny pinned Garea at 4:05 with a sunset flip;
fall #3: the bout was stopped due to the curfew at 12:13; prior to the
bout, Capt. Lou Albano escorted the Valiants to the ring before
returning to the dressing room

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Table for 3
is a new show on the WWE Network that features 3 wrestlers sitting around
having a meal and talking about wrestling.
How could this not be good right?
Each episode has a different theme and wrestlers appearing are from
different times in wrestling. Each
episode is about 22 minutes long, but I would like it if they were much, much
longer.

Brass Ring

Kevin Owens,
Dean Ambrose, Ceasro

One of my
favorites so far with these three talking about their journey and rise in WWE
to where they are now. They also talk a
lot about being on the independent scene and how it was there and some of the
others wrestlers that they worked with.
Really good show.

IC Champions
Club

Daniel
Bryan, Ryback, & Dolph Ziggler

They briefly
talk about what how the Intercontinental Championship was important to them
when they were younger and how that want to make it that way again. Hilarious stories of them being on the road
together, wrestling each other, Ryback hurting Dolph, wanting to impress Bock
Lesner, trying to get fans in Russia to cheer for him, calling Daniel Bryan a
bully and so much more. I laughed so
much during this episode.

WCW Legends

Sting, DDP,
& Vader. They open up talking about
Sting finally getting signed to WWE.
Then Sting and Vader talk about their WCW feud including Vader calling
Sting the stiffest pretty boy he’d ever faced. By the way Vader health wise and
shape wise looks great! DDP talks about
Sting and his WCW World Title Match on Nitro.

A behind the
scenes look at NXT and their sell out show in Brooklyn on eve of
SummerSlam.

This
documentary starts back at NXT Arrival in February 2014 taking us all the way
to Brooklyn. They talk to a variety of
NXT Wrestlers and Triple H about Florida Championship Wrestling, the Full Sail
University crowd, taking NXT on the road, and more about the growth of NXT.

We go
in-depth with Finn Balor, Sasha Banks, the evolution of Women’s wrestling,
Bayley, and others.

A very
detailed look at the Sasha Banks vs. Bayley match including footage of their
mothers at ringside and post-mast celebration of the 4 Horsewoman.

We get a
detailed look at the Main Event Ladder match pitting Champion Finn Balor vs.
Kevin Owens.

It’s really
cool listening to Triple H’s comments through-out as he clearly is a proud
poppa when it comes to NXT and “his kids”

A couple
things that were not covered that surprised me was nothing about the amazing
entrance the Enzo and Big Cass got, Samoa Joe, and nothing at all about Jushin
Liger. They showed three brief clips of
him in the final montage of the event.
The final image was Bayley hoisting the NXT Women’s Championship and
crowd chanting her name. Thea doesn’t
surprise me as it really felt like they were putting the women’s division over
hard, and rightfully so.

A pretty
amazing hour and well worth checking out.

Thanks for reading, please take a moment to leave a comment, follow me on twitter or like my blog's Facebook page.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

One of the
less chaotic shows with just Anderson & Gallows talking to Elgin about his
time in wrestling.

Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling Podcast

Episode 268
Magnus

Nick Aldis
was Magnus in TNA, listen as he talks about getting into wrestling, UK
Gladiators, his time in TNA and being married to Mickie James

Episode 269 Jim
Duggan

We all know
who “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan is, but this conversation is about his start in
wrestling , his style, and how in his 60’s he’s still able to compete today.

Episode 270
Taz

Colt is in
heaven talking to and ECW original Taz about how he got into wrestling and his
early days of ECW.

Episode 271 Gary Michael Cappetta

The former Ring Announcer of the WWWF, AWA, WCW, and more talks about getting into the business, why he left, what he's doing with himself since then and more. I've read his book and it is excellent! For me I remember him being the voice of WCW as I don't recall him ever being in the WWF but I have seen footage of it.

Talk is Jericho

Episode 181
Eli Roth Returns

Eli talks
about his movie “The Green Inferno” and the trouble he ran into that caused the
movie’s release to be delayed a year.

Episode 184 Jericho 25th Anniversary
One of the best podcasts that I have ever listened too! So much fantastic going on in this hilarious conversation between Jericho, Lance Storm, Don Callis, & Lenny St. Clair. The rapport between the 4 of them and the stories they share is simply amazing! I'm going to save this one to listen to it again and again.

Episode 185 Jesse Ventura Returns
The Body is back with more conspiracy's, government cover ups and his plan to run for President in 2016.

Steve Austin Unleashed

Episode 254
Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Roberts
talks about getting into wrestling, the art of psychology, his demons, where he
is today, and so much more.

Episode 247
Sean “X-Pac” Waltman

I was truly
surprised by how great this show actually was.Talking about Waltman’s early career, his name choice of 1-2-3 Kid, his
later issues with meth, and lots of talk about wrestling from the 80’s.

Episode 255
Edge & Christian

Taped for a
WWE Network Special it’s a great career highlight for both men, with the
primary focus being on Edge.

The Ross Report

Episode 81
Josh Barnett

They talk
about UFC, Pro Wrestling, the future of both and much, much more

Episode 83 DemolitionRecorded in England JR and Ax & Smash sit down and talk about both of their careers, the different characters they played, Ax's friendship with Andre, and how they came together as a team and if they feel they were knock off's for the Road Warriors.

Another
great live episode this time about the only film directed by Stephen King.

Episode 120
Master of the Universe w/ Tatiana Maslan

I really
like these guys but man it bugs me when they don’t know the basis for what a
movie is based on. Still the same they
were funny as usual and it actually gave me a new perspective on this movie.

The Moth Radio Hour

Dog Mother,
Tour Guide, & Milli Vanilli

A woman
becomes a stepmother to a dog, a tour guide in Toronto confronts racism, a
mother learns the meaning of “Little Pitchers have big ears” and one half of
the pop duo Milli Vanilli tells his side of the famous lip syncing scandal.Personal note, I love the phrase “Little
pitchers have big ears” is one of my favorites from “A Christmas Story”

Holly Hughes
& Tara Clancy

Two stories
about fighting back: Against the U.S. Congress and against a school bus bully.

Boyhood

A writer
makes his dad proud, a preacher’s kid takes money from his grandfather, a high
schooler chases his dog out onto the Grand Concourse, and a former child
soldier negotiates high school in New York City.

Marie
Hershkowitz & Matthew McGough

Baseball
Stories, both stories are great but Matthew McGough’s is hilarious!

Live from Boston

A special live edition of The Moth recorded at the Shubert Theatre in Boston. A New York City cop looks inot the death of a kid he grew up with, a jazz musician dreams of playing with James Brown, and a woman falls in love over the protestations of her family.

The Nerdist

Morena
Baccarin

Morena talks
about Gotham, Comic Con, Firefly and a lot more a really good show

Robert
Rodriguez

We learn a
lot about El’ Mariachi and how Robert made this film for no one to see and how
it was the catalyst for how his career shaped.
I really enjoyed this conversation.

Colin Hanks

Hanks talks about his new documentary about Tower Records "All Things Must Pass", fatherhood, being in the shadow of his father Tom Hanks, and a lot more.

Mystery Show

Case 3 Belt
Buckle

A man who
found a unique and custom made belt buckle as a child wants to know who the
owner is and the story behind it.

Case 4
Vanity Plate

A mystery
for Starlee herself as she wants to know the story behind the license plate she
saw a few years ago, “Iluv911”

Case 5
Source Code

Starlee’s
friend is desperate to know how tall Jake Gyllenhaal is.

Case 6
Kotter

A Welcome
Back Kotter lunch box is the topic, specifically the scene on the cover of a
jacket with knots in the sleeves.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

WWE Networks
has been putting out some great original programming lately.

The show
“Table for 3” is three people having a meal together and just shooting the shit
for 20 minutes to half an hour.They
have aired 3 episodes so far and each could not have been more different from
the next.

This was
much too short and it seemed to end just as it started.Piper tells a funny story about being
arrested and forgetting that one of the people in the room actually bailed him
out.

Episode 2
New Day” Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, & Big E Langston

Three
friends talking about how they became a team telling loads of inside jokes and
genuinely having a great time in each other’s company.Really fun feel good episode that makes you
actually like New Day.

Episode 3
Madusa, Molly Holly, & Ivory

So excited when
I heard about this episode, three legends of woman’s wrestling and what is the
most interesting is that Molly had interaction with Madusa & Ivory through
her career, but Madusa and Ivory never crossed paths in the ring.The best story that comes out of this episode
really finding out about the night Madusa threw the WWF Woman’s Championship
into the garbage on Nitro.

There are some great future episodes featuring Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, & Ryback as well as another fearing Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, & Cesaro.

Corey Graves
hosts two shows on WWE Network “Superstar Ink” & “Culture Shock” both shows
are less than ten minutes.

“Superstar
Ink” talks to the Superstars of the WWE about their tattoo’s, why they got
them, and what they mean to them.

“Culture
Shock” features Graves touring around to different Pop Culture or unique places
to examiner the odder side traveling.He
visits places like Marvel Comics, The Preakness, X Games, Hardcore Tattoo,
Fisherman’s Wharf and more.I haven’t
watched all them yet but the ones I have seen are decent.

Graves makes
a good host and I could see him hosting longer episodes of this show.

Renee Young
host “Unfiltered” a casual talk show type show that features interviews with
wrestlers and Hollywood types in various locations.The duration of the shows vary from 10 to 30
minutes.They follow no real format
other than Renee asking questions. I
haven’t watched every episode but the Seth Rollins and Steve Amell ones were
decent.

“Legends
with JBL” is the newest show on the Network.The first two episodes are a 2 part interview with Eric Bischoff and were
filmed in a cable news channel style setting with both men sitting in chairs
sort of facing each other behind a coffee table. Both parts
were excellent with Bischoff going into details that we haven’t heard
before.

WWE Network has what looks to be a great show about NXT showing us the journey of superstars behind the scenes.

Thanks for reading, please take a moment leave a comment or like my pages Facebook page.

Contributors

Michael J. Labbe

Husband, father of three, and lover of all things professional wrestling Michael is the founder of The Wrestling Insomniac and posts unique articles about wrestling, live event reports, and regular columns The Last Match and Signed Trading Cards.

superstarreview@gmail.com

Brandon Myers

Brandon, a wrestling fan of over thirty years, enjoys all wrestling but spends most of his time watching classic Memphis and WCW matches. Brandon contributes live event reports, documentary/DVD reviews, and other assorted wrestling posts.

LuchaKoopa@gmail.com

Roy Kenny

Roy 's column Roy's Reviews focuses on reports from events he has attended and wrestling DVD's.